


heartbroken

by fate-motif (Jo_Girard)



Series: zoo date: origins [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Canon Compliant, Friends to Lovers, Ladybug and Cat Noir Part 1 Spoilers, M/M, POV switch, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-24 14:09:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6156115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jo_Girard/pseuds/fate-motif
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Valentine's Day doesn't go remotely how either Max or Kim had planned.</p><p>(Or: Heartbreaker from Max's point-of-view.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	heartbroken

“In most fairy tales the prince breaks the spell by kissing the princess. Who can tell me why?”

Max was already making the math in his head, but this being Valentine’s Day, his head didn’t spit back the result as quickly as he could have. Instead, he crossed his arms and looked over to his side. No, not to Rose speaking behind him. It was to Kim; his friend being lost in thought, holding a pencil with his mouth, and leaning back on his chair absently.

“Because only only love can defeat hatred,” declared Rose. For further emphasis, she had her hands clasped and her head tilted while staring into the distance dreamily. It was the lovey-dovey display that prompted Max to stand up and present his case. _87%._ The answer almost flashed before Max’s eyes. 87% of most commonly known fairy tales, if one was to chose Perrault, Christian Andersen, and the Grimm fairy tales for the subject, and those were the ones being studied in class.

“Technically, ma’am, this argument only applies in approximately 87% of fairy tales, and also - ”

“Thank you for these precisions, Max, thank you very much,” called out Miss Bustier.

Max went back to his seat defeated. And now without a number to chase or a point to make, his head went to the least helpful thing he could have thought about.

Yes, that was...Kim.

This was why Max preferred Miss Mendeleiev.

* * *

 Friday break recharged Max just in time.

“Beginning of Operation Valentine’s Day!”

To any passerby that morning, it would have been difficult to tell who was jumpier: Kim, bending over Max expectantly, or Max himself as he spit out his plan quicker than he could add or multiply.

“According to my numerous searches on every shopping site online, it’s _this_ jewel that meets the most success with girls!” Max trusted the internet to be straighter than him, at least.

He produced the trinket in a small red heart-shaped box and handed it to his best friend. Kim’s face lit up at the sight of the pearl-and-diamond brooch, and it wasn’t just the stones’ reflection.

“It’s perfect Max! I can’t take a red card with this!” Max smiled, doing his best not to say, _I try_. “Love is like football, right? You need a strategy or else you’re out! But if you aim correctly, you’ll get right between the poles and _score!_ ”

“Kim, very nice metaphor…”

“I met what?”

Before Max could laugh aloud, from out of nowhere Alya and Marinette dove towards his friend and clung to his arms. Max jumped back as the girls began to flood Kim with questions about the brooch.

“It’s shiny, is it for me?”

Max fidgeted with his glasses at the mention of the brooch’s intended owner. “N-negative, Alya, the beneficiary of this jewel has already been determined. It’s - ”

Kim clamped a hand around Max’s mouth and pulled him close. “Shh, the walls have ears, Max!” he protested. Max protested just as much under his hand. So Kim let his friend go, and earned a well-deserved glare.

“I have a scoop! Our Kim is in _love_!” crowed Alya. She was already lifting her phone to record as she asked, “But who is the lucky lady?”

“Oh, it’s beautiful, Kim, it will make her very happy!”

Kim ran a hand down the back of his head. “Yeah, well, she still has to accept it…” and Max was unable to smile. Either she would accept it and Kim would be very happy, or she would turn him down gently and after a few miserable days, Kim would be back to normal and there would be no one else to bother them. Kim! He meant Kim.

Kim gasped beside him. “What if she doesn’t want it?”

“She’ll love it, no worries, it’s a given!” chirped Marinette. “Don't be scared, go on, go for it, you absolutely shouldn't have any regrets!”

Kim once again smiled ear to ear, and turned to Max. “Okay, Operation Valentine’s Day is starting!” Kim and Max high-fived.

Max pulled out the crinkled map he had printed last night for the plan. “I’ve highlighted her route in yellow and yours in red; running at 16 kilometers per hour you’ll have a lead of one and a half minute on her!” Kim now ran in place, preparing for the sprint he was to make all the way to the Pont des Arts. “You’ll meet her at this place,” Max pointed to his destination, “it's the third most romantic place in Paris!” Max gave his friend a last smile and a thumbs up, but since time was of the essence, he shouted, “Go, go, go!”

“Thank you, Marinette!” Kim dashed away from his three friends with eyes on fire. Nevermind the fact that Kim had just thanked _Marinette_ and not him. It was all the better that neither of the girls were looking at Max’s little love-struck smile.

* * *

 The walk home took 20 minutes for Max, and it was only luck that his phone buzzed halfway. He pulled it out of his pocket with an eye out for any incoming message from Kim. Instead, his eyes landed on a notification from Chloé of all people. “What? Oh, _no…”_ Max adjusted his glasses and almost threw them off when he swiped the notification. He received an image of his best friend holding out Max’s brooch, soaking wet and with a bag of chips over his head. His expression was absolutely heartbroken as he stared up Chloé’s phone camera. Kim wasn’t going to recover from this any time soon.

“No, no, no…” Max’s face matched Kim’s face in the picture when it hit him. After ten missed calls to Kim’s phone, Max had no choice but to turn tail and look all over near the Pont des Arts for his best friend. Max’s heart was pounding like crazy at the end of his sprint. Kim might have been proud of Max if he’d known how quickly he had gotten to the bridge for him - and saw Kim was nowhere to be found!

“Kim...” Once he had fallen to a crouch to recover from the effort, Max sighed. _This is my fault for wanting her to say no; this is what Kim gets because I didn’t have the guts to tell him - !_

He almost finished his sentence with _that Chloé would never love anyone_ , but it wasn’t just that.

Max lifted his phone, and turned it on with trembling hands. Heartbroken Kim stared back at him from the screen.

“Operation Valentine’s Day is starting,” repeated Max to himself. And then he called, again, as he stood and looked around the city for the quickest route to Kim’s place.

* * *

 “Hey, man, maybe we could try forget today by just playing Mecha Strike at my place and - curse it,” swore Max, and he deleted yet another voicemail. His free hand balled into a fist at his side as he muttered and groaned in frustration. Kim had the guts to declare his love to Chloé, and _he_ couldn’t tell Kim that he…? Max didn’t even dare say it aloud; all that came to mind whenever he faced the truth was Rose’s sickeningly sweet answer to Miss Bustier - he couldn’t relate to “only love can vanquish hate!” with Kim. It was corny, they’d both agree. Fairy tales were corny like that.

Max’s failed love declarations came to a stop as the heavy beating of wings above him froze Max in his spot. He raised his head in shock, and found himself looking at a tall, athletic Cupid with a broken heart across his chest and wings and arrows coated black. And he was looking for a target to shoot.

Max scrambled back in fear and turned to look for the nearest bench to hide - the Akumatized villain was now flying over the Seine in search for his newest victims. But apparently no one across the river caught his fancy, and when Max dashed behind a close bench, the winged archer was back on his trail. Max turned just as the archer was poised over him and notching an arrow. As Max covered his face in fear and let out a yell, the Cupid lowered his bow.

“...Huh?” Max tilted his head and squinted up to the Cupid. That was most definitely Kim with a notched arrow that pointed at Max’s feet - and that flew away without a word as shame crept up in his eyes.

“Kim!” Max tried to run to the Cupid from below, but one dash had already taken a toll on the skinny high schooler. “Kim!” And Kim was gone; soaring over a rooftop Max could go over. What he wouldn't give to be Chat Noir and bring his friend back to normal! All Max could do was fall to his knees and stare desperately into the sky to where Kim had left - and pray Ladybug and Chat Noir were doing their best to save his best friend.

* * *

 Max scrambled into a nearby café and was allowed to stay while news came out of Heartbreaker (he had a villain name now) and his defeat to Chat Noir and Ladybug. As soon as the streets were confirmed safe to be safe, Max's phone shook in his pocket. Max then left out of the café and followed Kim's directions to where Kim was. He found his best friend on a bench by the Fontaine du Palmier, holding his head in his hands. Max ran to his side in worry - still, when the time came to speak, he could say nothing. Akuma victims never remembered anything of what they'd done, but Kim had gotten to the right conclusion on how he had arrived there. They just sat there awkwardly until Kim stammered, “D-did I hurt anyone?” Both stared at their feet; they had seen too often what Akumatized villains could do, between Stoneheart, Timebreaker…

 _Stoneheart._ The first ever villain in Paris. He had been Kim's fault. No wonder he was taking this so hard - now he saw what a jerk he'd been to Ivan back then.

“No, all Heartbreaker did was shoot arrows that broke off relationships.” Max pried “you” away from “Heartbreaker” - he did not understand how being Akumatized worked, but he did not want Kim to dwell on what had happened.

“I was an idiot,” sighed Kim. “I thought - Chloé and I had been friends long enough.”

 _If you could call being a 'friend' playing gratuitous gorilla third-in-command to Chloé…_ interrupted Max’s more logical side.

“But she doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Not even Sabrina.”

Max looked up to Kim’s broken expression. At times, Kim mirrored Chloé’s arrogance and conceit around their shyer classmates. In the name of confidence he’d put others down and most times, his shenanigans came off more as cocky and ridiculous than cruel. But the illusion of confidence had been shattered. It hurt Kim to find himself to be Sabrina and not Chloé this time around.

_Say something, you idiot!_

How was it that piecing everything logically came easier to Max than spitting out _anything_ to comfort his best friend?!

“Well…” Max looked away from his friend at turned to the fountain. “If she doesn't care about anyone but herself, she didn’t deserve you.” The boldest thing Max had said yet.

“Really? Seems Chloé could make almost as good a Heartbreaker as me.”

Max winced, the truth of Kim’s words stinging all over. “That wasn’t you.”

“Doesn’t sound like -”

“You can’t blame yourself for falling for the wrong person!” exclaimed Max, who now turned to Kim with a pointed finger. “And you can’t blame yourself for being Akumatized!” Kim’s pitiful look melted away from surprise. This was enough to revert Max to his usual self. “I mean…” Max looked away and dropped the pointing finger. He scratched the back of his head.

Kim gave a laugh - a little weaker than usual, but still much more like his usual self. “You sound like when you’re playing Mecha Strike, man.”

Max’s face went blank. “Well…”

“That’s good, that’s good!” He punched Max’s shoulder enthusiastically. Max was almost thrown off the bench, but he laughed. “Oh, sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“That’s when you can kick ass. When you play videogames.”

Max grinned and looked at Kim’s eyes. Pink-rimmed and all, they were hopeful.

“Maybe we could play in the afternoon after we finish that Literature homework,” suggested Max. His own eyes were filling with stars, and maybe some other shape - _curse you, Rose._ “Tournament’s coming up.”

“We’re the Wonder Team that’s going to make it to the end for our school, you and I.” Kim put an arm around Max’s shoulders and began gesturing with his free hand to the sky. “I’m ready to see that big golden trophy in the school halls - and you can brag about it all you like!”

Max rolled his eyes and matched those eyes with a fond smile for Kim.

 _Operation Valentine’s Day is cancelled_.

No, no.

 _Postponed_.

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! This fandom barely has any Kim/Max fic so I decided to oblige and give them a small epic - how I think Kim and Max got together that by the time of Animan, they could happily go on a zoo date and be together. Part 2 will be - you guessed it - Gamer from Kim's POV. Really pretty much self explanatory. And I'd be willing to give this ship more fic if people want it - hell, these boys deserve it.


End file.
